Editing Colin Figures

{{Short description|Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (1925–2006)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox spy
|honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
|honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG|OBE}}
| name = Colin Figures
| image = File:Colin Figures.jpg
| caption =
| allegiance = United Kingdom [[File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|20px]]
| service = [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (SIS/MI6)
| serviceyears = 1951 &ndash; 1985
| rank = [[Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service]] 
| operation = [[Suez Crisis]]<br />[[Prague Spring]]<br /> [[Falklands War]] 
| awards = [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]<br />[[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|7|1|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Birmingham]], United Kingdom
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2006|12|8|1925|7|1|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Esher]], United Kingdom
| spouse = Pamela Ann Timmis
| parents = Frederick and Muriel Figures
| children = a son and two daughters 
| occupation = [[British intelligence]] officer
| alma_mater = [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]
}}
'''Sir Colin Frederick Figures''' {{post-nominals|size=100%|KCMG|OBE}} (1 July 1925 &ndash; 8 December 2006) was Chief of the [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (known as MI6) from 1981 to 1985. During this time he had oversight of the supply of human intelligence information, including Argentine positions and their stocks of [[Exocet]] missiles, to the UK Government during the [[Falklands War]].<ref name=times/>

==Career==
Figures was born in [[Birmingham]], the son of Frederick Figures, an insurance executive, and his wife Muriel.<ref name=inde>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sir-colin-figures-430065.html Obituary: Sir Colin Figures] The Independent, 29 December 2006</ref> He was educated at [[King Edward's School, Birmingham]]<ref name="times">{{Cite news|date=15 December 2006|title=Sir Colin Figures obituary|page=78|work=[[The Times]]|issue=68884}}</ref> and served in [[The Worcestershire Regiment]] from 1943 until 1948,<ref name=times/> during which time he studied Russian via the Inter-Service Language Course at Cambridge, and served in [[Romania]] and [[Hungary]].<ref name=times/> He read French and Russian at [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]] after being demobilised in 1948.<ref name="times" /> While there, he also founded the Woodpeckers, a combined Oxford and Cambridge touring rugby team.<ref name="inde" /> He joined the SIS when he graduated in 1951.<ref name=times/><ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Figures, Sir Colin Frederick (1925–2006), intelligence officer|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-97524|access-date=2021-08-05| year=2004 |language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/97524| isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref>

After a period in London, he served in Germany, served in [[Amman]] during the [[Suez Crisis]], in [[Warsaw]], and in [[Vienna]] during the [[Prague Spring]], before returning to London.<ref name=times/> He moved from Eastern bloc espionage in 1973 to supervise SIS activities in [[Northern Ireland]].<ref name=times/> He became deputy head of SIS in 1979 and its ninth Chief in 1981.<ref name=times/>  The following year, SIS was involved in the [[Falklands War]], seeking to prevent Argentina obtaining stocks of [[Exocet]] missiles to be carried by their Super Etendard attack aircraft.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1537476/Sir-Colin-Figures.html Obituary: Sir Colin Figures] Daily Telegraph, 21 December 2006</ref>  He received an [[OBE]] in 1969 and [[Order of St Michael and St George|CMG]] in 1978, and advanced to [[Order of St Michael and St George|KCMG]] in 1983.<ref name=times/>

He retired from SIS in 1985, and became Intelligence Co-ordinator at the [[Cabinet Office]].<ref name=times/>  He finally retired in 1989.<ref name=times/>

He married Pamela Ann Timmis in 1956.<ref name=inde/> He suffered from [[Parkinson's disease]] in later life, and died in [[Esher]].<ref name=inde/> He was survived by his wife, and their son and two daughters.<ref name=inde/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [[doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/97524|Figures' entry]] in the ''[[Dictionary of National Biography|Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' 
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{{S-gov}}
{{succession box |
 before=[[Dick Franks|Sir Dick Franks]]| 
 title=[[Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service|Chief of the SIS]] |
 years=1982–1985|
 after=[[Christopher Curwen|Sir Christopher Curwen]]| 
}}
{{s-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Figures, Colin}}
[[Category:Civil servants in the Cabinet Office]]
[[Category:Cold War spies]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham]]
[[Category:Chiefs of the Secret Intelligence Service]]
[[Category:Worcestershire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]